This was a magnificent effort, full of passion and valour, the Wembley win secured in the end by two Vito Mannone saves in the penalty shootout. For 36 minutes, Sunderland had held out, carved out a chance of their own and looked reasonably comfortable. Then Jonny Evans was allowed to charge forward unchallenged to head in a miscued Welbeck shot. And still we held out, at various stages looking the better side without often showing real threat. United rarely troubled Mannone. With extra time almost done, Phil Bardsley hit a shot from outside the area and David de Gea fumbled it, the ball spinning off him into goal. Hernandez equalised almost immediately but the dramatic finale saw Sunderland win 2-1 on penalties … Wembley here we come. Pete Sixsmith was delirious as he started the cross-Pennines trek home ..:
Jan 22 2014 AET: Manchester United (1) 2 Sunderland (0) 1 SAFC WIN 2-1 ON PENALTIES: Oh Vito Mannone. Oh Vito Mannone. Hero.
Jan 11 2014 Fulham (0) 1 Sunderland (2) 4: *Johnson hatrick destroys Fulham in winter sunshine
Jan 7 2014 Capital One Cup Semi-final First Leg: Sunderland (1) 2 Manchester United (0) 1 Deserved it. Shows what we can do
Jan 5 2014 FA Cup 3rd Round: Sunderland (1) 3 Carlisle Utd (1) 1 Comfortable in the end. Two youngsters sparkled
January 1 2014 Sunderland (0) 0 Aston Villa (1) 1 Dismal as our Premier place slips away
December 28 2013 Cardiff City (1) 2 Sunderland (0) 2 Dragged a vital point out of that
December 26 2013 Everton (0) 0 Sunderland (1) 1 Hung on after interval but massive result
December 21 2013 SAFC (0) 0 Norwich City (0) 0 As stodgy as last year’s Christmas pud
December 17 2013 Capital One Cup 5th Round: SAFC (0) 2 Chelsea (0) 1 AET Ki seals comeback; didn’t see that coming
December 14 2013 West Ham Utd (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 0 Better side by miles – couldn’t finish it
December 8 2013 SAFC (1) 1 Tottenham Hotspur (1) 2 Score flatters us as task gets harder
December 4 2013 SAFC (1) 3 Chelsea (2) 4 Pushed a strong side all the way
November 30 2013 Aston Villa (0) 0 SAFC (0) 0 *Villa almost undone by cream soda performance
November 23 2013 Stoke City (1) 2 SAFC (0) 0 Ridiculous red gave us an impossible task
November 10 2013 SAFC (1) 1 Manchester City (0) 0 A wonderfully disciplined performance. Real hope now
November 6 2013 Capital One Cup 4th Round: SAFC (0) 2 Southampton (0) 1 A tidy second half brings Wembley closer
November 2 2013 Hull City (1) SAFC (0) Damage limitation after appalling first half performance
October 27 2013 SAFC (1) 2 Newcastle United (0) 1 Bragging rights and a win. Good combination/ or Perfect Poyet puts another one over Pardew
October 19 2013 Swansea City 4 (0) SAFC 0 (0) No Poyet magic cure for abject failure*
October 5 2013 SAFC (1) 1 Manchester United (0) 2 Better side first half, outclassed in second
September 30 2013 SAFC (0) 1 Liverpool (2) 3 Spirit in abundance, undone by shoddy defending
September 24 2013 Capital One Cup 3rd Round: SAFC (1) 2 Peterborough United (0) 0 A solid performance without any touchline histrionics
September 21 2013 West Bromwich Albion 3 (1) SAFC 0 (0) Coach looks completely out of his depth
September 14 2013 SAFC (0) 1 Arsenal (1) 3 Performance far better than the result suggests
August 31 2013 Crystal Palace (1) 3 SAFC (0) 1 Nowhere near good enough for this league
August 27 2013 Capital One Cup 2nd Round: SAFC (0) 4 MK Dons (1) 2Outplayed, outclassed, somehow got out of jail
August 24 2013 Southampton (0) 1 SAFC (1) 1 The point was better than the performance
August 17 2013 SAFC (0) 0 Fulham (0) 1 Ultimately little difference from previous two seasons
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Above all, a TEAM effort. After the trauma of the DiCanio era, it is obvious that Gus has got all of them reading the same script.
We were relentless in the second half. The successive waves of attack, although not creating clear cut chances, always looked as if they might harrass United into an error.
Mannone MOTM, Ki and Bardsley superb, and I thought Altidore was a definate presence when he was intoduced.
The least said about the penalties the better. However KI and Alonso’s were top drawer. Actually I wonder why Bardsley dosen’t take them? His shooting is usually on target, and I think that he has the mental strength for the job.
Would agree,but Bardsley looked completely knackered.I was amazed he had the energy to get up and score.
Fantastic night,
great drama.
,doing it on Man Utd turf,
getting to a CUP FINAL!!!,
with the team we started the season with,
putting out Chelsea too,..
Huge pat on the back for our genius manager(Thanks Gus) and the effort the players put in too.
Last but not least magnificent supporters.
Getting to a final the Sunderland way usually leaves you breathless.
As Alex Ferguson once said…..”football ….bloody hell”
Well by the look of it I’ve already won one cup (mug actually) but money can’t buy what was on show tonight….delighted at both.
CSB..nice bid for this superior piece of SAFC memorabilia. Hope you enjoy it, but beware…they don’t bounce!
Took mine into work today to drink me tea!
Oh Oh Oh!
It was too much. SImply wonderful.
Let’s win the cup. No! We are going to win the cup.
Nice to beat Man Utd.
What a night!! Nerves shredded! Well done lads… never gave up. Wembley here we come!!
Congratulations Sunderland fans.
It was a fantastic game with both sides giving their all. Probably the shittiest shoot out I can remember but well played and great to see don Vito playing like that too!
Even tougher opposition ahead with City in the final, but work as hard as that and you never know.
Sunderland deserved it for me, the desire you showed when you needed the goal late on – closing down and hassling deep into extra time – was relentless.
Congratulations for your deserved cup final.
Cheers, nice one
The mental strength the belief and the rub of the green sees us with a Wembley date, what next?
well done mackems, see you at wembley….
@robin, looks like the tiny pea injured his knee celebrating his goal ( karma or what ! )
Didn’t I forecast 0-0? ! Oh, me nerves , im like a buckled wheel. What just happened? Fantastic , incredible , let the news be about the victors for a change .92 entered,2 are left . Sooooo proud of our beloved team.looking forward to a fantastic day out. Haway The Lads!!!!
I am in Norway. The first thing I did was send a text to my wife in England, she replied, “LOL, Haha, I have a happy Hon”. Last time I was here, I shared a flat with a Sunderland supporter and a Newcastle supporter. So we outnumbered Newcastle Supporters 2:1. However, the Newcastle guy said “WOW, there are 2 in the world”. We all had fun watching football together. And teasing the Arsenal fan I work with. No teasing of him now.
My heart was in my groin, I was trembling. As soon as Gardner missed the first, then I prayed and prayed. Come on guys. I was willing Adam Johnson to win it for us, NO!!!
But why did Man U not choose Hernandez before Rafael? Oh well, at least we are in the final. We seem to do well against Man City, but this time they will be prepared.
In Gus we Trust? Anyone willing to join me in that.
Oh yes